Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
Creation of the Gods
封神演义
Creation of the Gods (封神演义, Fēngshén Yǎnyì) is a story from Creation of the Gods, the Chinese classic by Xu Zhonglin, retold in simple Mandarin as a 10-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 3 (Intermediate).
Retold from the Ming dynasty novel Creation of the Gods: a fox spirit in the palace, a fisherman with a straight hook, a boy with fire wheels, and a great battle that ends an age.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — A warm, older storyteller.
- Nuwa · 女娲 — The goddess who made people from clay, angry at the king's rude poem.
- King Zhou · 纣王 — The proud last king of the Shang dynasty.
- Shang Rong · 商荣 — An honest old minister who keeps warning the king.
- The White Fox · 小狐狸 — A fox spirit sent by Nuwa to the palace.
- Daji · 妲己 — The queen who is really the fox spirit in a woman's shape.
- King Wen · 文王 — The wise, gentle ruler of the west.
- San Yisheng · 散宜生 — The Lord of Zhou's clever, practical minister.
- Jiang Ziya · 姜太公 — The old fisherman with a straight hook who becomes the greatest strategist.
- King Wu · 武王 — King Wen's brave son, who leads the Zhou army.
- Nezha · 哪吒 — A brave, hot-tempered seven-year-old boy with fire wheels.
- Ao Bing · 敖丙 — The Dragon King's proud son.
- The Dragon King · 龙王 — The angry ruler of the Eastern Sea.
- Li Jing · 李靖 — Nezha's stern general father.
- Lady Yin · 殷夫人 — Nezha's gentle mother.
- Taiyi · 太乙真人 — A jolly immortal who gives Nezha a new body.
- Randeng · 燃灯 — An ancient calm immortal with a blue lamp.
- Yang Jian (Erlang Shen) · 杨戬 — A warrior with a third eye who is clever and loyal.
- Master Yuding · 玉鼎真人 — Yang Jian's gentle, laughing teacher.
- Zhu Zizhen · 朱子真 — A round pig-faced monster warrior who is always hungry.
- Chang Hao · 常昊 — A sly snake-faced monster warrior.
- Yuan Hong · 袁洪 — The proud white ape general of the monsters.
- Grand Tutor Wen · 闻仲 — The king's proud old general who builds the great formation.
10 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Poem on the Wall
墙上的诗
A proud king writes a rude poem on a goddess's temple wall. High in the sky, the goddess hears about it, and a little white fox is called to her palace.
Free to read
Chapter 2: The New Queen
新王后
A beautiful young woman comes to the palace, and the king can't stop smiling. Only his old minister sees something strange in her smile.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 3: The Prison at Youli
被关的文王
A kind lord obeys the king's call, and it lands him in a cold stone prison. Then a clever friend arrives with a chest of gifts and a plan.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 4: The Straight Hook
直直的鱼钩
A king walks to the river to find a helper and meets an old man fishing with a hook that can't catch anything. Then the old man reads the stars.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 5: Nezha Stirs the Sea
哪吒闹海
A seven-year-old boy washes his red sash in the sea and shakes a dragon palace. A fight with a dragon prince ends badly, and a whole town is in danger.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 6: Born from a Lotus
莲花里的哪吒
Nezha gives up his body to save his town. A jolly immortal grows him a new one out of lotus flowers, but his father is still angry when he flies home.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 7: Erlang and the Three Monsters
杨戬和三个妖怪
A very sleepy warrior with a third eye is sent to rescue Jiang Ziya from a pack of monsters. A pig, a snake and a big white ape are waiting.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 8: The Great Formation
十道门的大阵
Ten dark gates rise on the road to the king's capital, and behind each one waits a different danger. Three friends go in together.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 9: The Battle of Muye
牧野之战
The night before the great battle, a young king can't sleep. At dawn, two armies face each other on a wide plain, and a mirror waits to tell the truth about the queen.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 10: The Fengshen Terrace
封神台
The war is over and a tall terrace glows with golden lights. Old Jiang Ziya calls the names of the good and the brave, and one sleepy warrior turns down a seat in heaven.
SayMei Stories
Key words in Creation of the Gods
Behind the story
Creation of the Gods (封神演义, Fēngshén Yǎnyì) is a long Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty, about four hundred years old. It mixes real history with gods, immortals and monsters, and it tells how the Zhou people overthrew the last king of the Shang dynasty around three thousand years ago.
The story is one of the great sources of Chinese folk religion and pop culture. Characters like Nezha, Erlang Shen and Jiang Ziya are known to almost every Chinese child, from temple statues, operas, comics and animated films. The title means roughly "the investiture of the gods": at the end, the good and the loyal are given seats as gods.
Did you know?
- Jiang Ziya is said to have fished with a straight hook and no bait. The saying "the willing fish will bite" (愿者上钩) still comes from him.
- Nezha is one of the most popular gods in Chinese and Taiwanese temples, often shown with fire wheels under his feet.
- The battle of Muye is a real event in early Chinese history, when the Zhou army defeated the Shang. The novel adds gods and magic to it.